1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coverings for architectural openings such as windows, doors, archways, and the like, and more particularly to a retractable shade-type covering wherein one or more roller assemblies have a strip of flexible material anchored along one edge and secured along an opposite edge to an associated roller so the strip of material can be rolled about the roller to retract the covering or unrolled to extend the covering. A plurality of such roller assemblies can be provided in adjacent vertically spaced relationship or the roller assemblies can be aggregated with other covering components, such as a large sheet of transparent or translucent material, in a manner such that the entire covering can be extended or retracted independently of the individual roller assemblies.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Retractable coverings for architectural openings such as windows, doors, archways, and the like, have been used for many years. Examples of such covers are curtains, roll-up shades, venetian blinds, vertical blinds, cellular shades, and the like. Most such retractable coverings utilize one panel of material that is extended entirely across the architectural opening or retracted therefrom or in the case of vertical blinds, curtains, or draperies, there may be two panels of material that are anchored adjacent opposite sides of the architectural opening so they can be extended toward each other or retracted back to the respective sides of the opening.
There are also examples of segmented roll-up coverings for architectural openings with an example of such being in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/607,371 entitled Modular Framed Covering for Architectural Openings, filed Jun. 25, 2003, which is of common ownership with the present application. A segmented covering of this type has a plurality of relatively small strips of flexible material independently associated with rollers which are driven in unison to roll the strip material thereabout or unroll the sheet material from the roller when moving the covering between retracted and extended positions. The rollers are rotated by a drive system including a belt operatively associated with each roller and orbitally driven by a manual slide member to extend and retract the various segments of the covering.
Another example of a segmented covering for an architectural opening is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 179,123 where individual rollers are associated with independent strips of material in a manner such that all of the strips may be lifted by one control system or the shades can be independently rolled or unrolled relative to their associated rollers by another control system. The two control systems utilize cords wrapped around the individual rollers for operation of the covering.
It is to provide an improvement in retractable coverings for architectural openings that the present invention has been developed.